Sena, BJP inch closer to better poll chances

“We have decided to sink our differences, revive the old spirit of friendship between the two parties and defeat Congress in the next elections,” Uddhav told The Indian Express. When asked if the old seat-sharing agreement had been revived or the Sena had agreed to a rotating chief ministership half-away through a five-year term in case of victory to accommodate rising ambitions of Maharashtra’s BJP leaders, Uddhav said, “These issues were not even on the table. The old formula—171 Assembly seats for Sena and 117 for BJP—continues and so does the exclusive Sena claim over the chief ministership. Let us rewind to the point where we developed differences with the BJP. Since the whole crisis developed when the Sena backed UPA nominee Pratibha Patil in the presidential polls, we picked up the thread from there and decided to forget the past and work unitedly again.”

Earlier, speaking to reporters in the presence of Munde and Gadkari, his two detractors in the BJP, Uddhav was neither categorical about continuing the old seat-sharing arrangement, nor about the exclusive Sena right over the chief ministership. “Are you a reporter or a BJP leader?” Uddhav sought to know when a reporter asked if the old seat-sharing formula was intact. He skirted the issue about the chief ministership too. “The chief minister will belong to the alliance,” Uddhav said while responding to a question about the top slot. The decision would be made by top leaders of the two parties—Bal Thackeray, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani—when “power comes,” he added. The state BJP has for long insisted on an upward revision in its share of Assembly seats.

This is the first time a meeting of this sort has been held outside Matoshree, the Thackeray home in Mumbai. Uddhav, according to sources, shares a personal rapport with Advani. On Tuesday, Kamla Advani offered him special Sindhi vegetarian food in consonance with his weekly fast. The BJP conceded Uddhav’s demand that Munde and Gadkari address a joint press conference with him at Joshi’s residence to publicly end the spat between them.

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